Le Jour Deux

Day two began bright and early with a short walk to Notre Dame cathedral on the island in the center of the city on the river Siene.

We toured the interior first. The lighting made for good photos. Very gothic.

After walking through the inside we went back outside and got in line for the 400+ steps to climb to the top of the bell tower.

It wasn't an easy task. They have you climb up on one side and then cross a bridge that goes across the front center of the building to get to the other bell tower where you make the final climb to the top.

This is what it was like walking around the building to get to the second set of stairs.

I'll admit, it was definitely an unnerving experience. Heres a shot looking back at the bridge I mentioned. Notice the toothpick like spires it rests upon and the cracks in the stone. My youngest sister, who struggles with heights, had a sort of panic attack after this and had to climb back down without making it to the top.

Before the final climb there was a side excursion climbing up these creaky wooden stairs to see the bell. It was huge! (And these stairs were even scarier. Who knows how old that wood is!)

After the short climb to the top it all became worth it with the sight of the great views. If only we'd had a little sun to top it off.

We climbed back down and walked throught the garden behind the church to get one final view of the architecture.

Then it was on to the Marche aux fleurs, Paris's best flower market. The flowers were amazing. It was mainly potted plants, but they also had cut flowers too. I would have given anything to take some home for my garden.

After exploring the flowers we continued our walk on the island in search of more sights. We stumbled upon La Conciergerie, a very old prison that is now a museum. It is where Marie Antoinette was held before her execution. This is the main hall of the prison where the guards were stationed.

Here's the courtyard where prisoners were allowed some fresh air. (We couldn't resist.)

We had a short walk down the street to Saint Chapelle, another cathedral.

This turned out to be one of the most beautiful places we visited. The main chapel was almost completely encased in stained glass. Gorgeous!

After a little lunch (we ate a million baguette sandwiches while in Paris and of course crepes. I think Jill had a total of 28 croque monsieurs (grilled ham and cheese). She's a picky eater.) we made our way north to Centre Pompidou.

We visited the modern art museum on the 4th and 5th floors of the building. It was a nice change of pace from all the history we'd been immersed in up to this point.


From here we headed to the Musee Picasso which was a nice little museum with some of his lesser known works. Then it was on to our last destination of the day: Jardin des Plantes. Its a garden that dates back several hundred years.

It had some extremely large (and old) trees.

It also housed a zoo that dated back to the 1700's. It was small but very personal. You could get right up close to the animals.

The garden also had a labrynth that we played in. It was a maze made out of hedges that had secret passage ways and hidden exits. It was quite fun.

We dragged ourselves back to the hotel at this piont. We chose to try using the metro because our feet were very tired. It went well. I found it very easy to navigate and we ended up using it a lot during the rest of our time in the city.

If you didn't believe me when I said day two was big, you do now! We got a good nigthts sleep that night and got ready to start day three.